INTRODUCING MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT — It is with tremendous pleasure that I can reveal Microsoft Silverlight: our next-generation, cross-platform, cross-browser web client runtime. Silverlight (previously codenamed "WPF/E") is a lightweight subset of XAML for building rich media experiences on the web.

Microsoft, Adobe Set A Collision Course on Web — Microsoft Corp. and Adobe Inc. are on a collision course as they seek to dominate a new kind of software that will change how personal computers and the Web work together. — The companies have been partners in the past …

Adobe to take Flash videos to desktop — Not content with having a dominant position in Web video, Adobe Systems on Monday is expected to launch Adobe Media Player for playing Flash videos offline. — At the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas next week …

Adobe Showcases Media Player (with DRM) — Adobe will unveil Monday its business plan for a desktop Flash media player still in development. The product, due for beta release "this spring," will be a free platform monetized through licensing DRM and analytics tools.

DodgeBall founder quits Google — Dennis Crowley, founder of DodgeBall, a hipster SMS-social networking service that Google bought back in May 2005 has quit Google, reports Young Manhattanite. Alex Rainert, employee #2 for DodgeBall has also left the company. They both resigned on April 13th, 2007.

YM Exclusive: Dodgeball Founders Leave Google — Getting Out of Dodge. Dennis Crowley, founder of the mobile social networking service Dodgeball, and Alex Rainert resigned from their positions at Google, which acquired the service in May 2005, effective Friday April 13th.

Digg, the echo chamber and Matthew — Paul Kedrosky points to a fascinating study that was written about in the New York Times magazine this weekend (it figures that the one time I put aside the mag without reading it, it will have a fascinating story in it), which looked at the theory of "cumulative advantage."

New Form of Impulse: Shopping via Text Message — IMPULSE shoppers, watch out. Your cellphone might soon get you into trouble. — A company called ShopText has introduced a system that lets people buy products instantly using text messages, a process that eliminates the need to go to a store or even visit a Web site.

Coghead launches; Undercuts Salesforce pricing by 23% — Coghead, which was part of my 8 startups to watch-out for in 2007, is finally going live with it's DIY web-based application development platform. Coghead had been under private beta since last year and is now available for customers to register for free single-user accounts.

Fotowoosh Will Turn Any Picture Into 3D Image — Fotowoosh Will Turn Any Picture Into A 3D Image — Fotowoosh, a new service from Maryland-based startup Freewebs, will turn any image (preferably an outdoor image) into a 3D model. They went live on Friday.